Safe passage in the Arctic provides a means for local subsistence activities, shipping, and adequate search and rescue capabilities. Northerners are facing variable seasons, weather, sea ice and permafrost conditions which are compromising the safety and access of travelling to harvesting grounds and limiting opportunities to pass on traditional land skills to youth. Increasing costs of fuel and travel equipment and resource development activities, which may deter animals from traditional hunting grounds, also affect subsistence activities. Improving the accessibility of food networks along with weather forecasting and communication may assist with adaptation efforts. With respect to shipping, approximately only 10% of the Archipelago waters, which were reliably ice-free under conditions of 30 years ago, have been charted to modern standards to date. With the increasing traffic as well as the potential for more open water areas, there is a need to expand the coverage of modern hydrographic data in support of safe charting to cope with the changing environment. This does not implicitly require that the waters of the entire Archipelago be surveyed, but that new and existing corridors need to be surveyed to modern standards. In theabsence of sufficient resources to undertake the full scale of charting required, a prioritization scheme has been proposed by the Canadian Hydrographic Service. A complementary approach would be to increase the efficiency of existing Canadian Arctic mapping capabilities through multi-tasking of committed federal assets. These include the Canadian Coast Guard’s 1200 class ice-breaker fleet as well as the upcoming Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessels. Another factor which can impede the safety of both local travellers and larger transient vessels is storm activity. Larger expanses of open water give rise to larger, more intense storms with increased wind speeds. The resulting waves and storm surges pose a safety risk to ships, ports and other coastal infrastructure. High-resolution studies are needed to research sensitive coastal areas, and to simulate trends and climate change projections for waves, storm surges, and sea ice.

Relation

From Science to Policy in the Western and Central Canadian Arctic: An Integrated Regional Impact Study (IRIS) of Climate Change and Modernization / G. Stern, A. Gaden (eds): pp.270-299